Lubricating pads for journal boxes



March 13, 1962 T. ARNETT ETAL LUBRICATING PADS FOR JOURNAL BOXES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 25, 1958 INVENTORQ THOMAS L. ARNETT LAMSON CAPMEI? ROBINSON Mfl W M ATTORNEYS March 13, 1962 T. ARNETT ETAL 3,025,117

LUBRICATING PADS FOR JOURNAL BOXES Filed March 25, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 35 THOMAS L, ARA/E7 7' LAMSOIV CARMER ROBINSON ATTORNEYS 3,025,117 LUBRTCATZNG PADS FUR EOURNAL EDXES Thomas L. Arnett and Lamson Carmel" Robinson, La Grange, Ga, assignors to Iallaway Mills Company, La Grange Ga, a corporation of Georgia Filed Mar. 25, 1958, Saer. No. 723,727 Claims. (Cl. 308-243) The present invention relates to improvements in lubricating pads for insertion in journal boxes of railway cars and the like.

A journal box of a railway car includes a housing which forms an oil cellar for reception of liquid lubricant. The journal and the journal. bearing are positioned within the journal box above the oil cellar. It has been common practice in the past to pack the journal box with cotton waste which is saturated with oil and which engages the journal to lubricate the same. A well recognized objection to the use of cotton waste in a journal box has been the fact that the waste has had a tendency to become wrapped around the rotating journal or to become lodged between the journal and the journal bearing. Upon occurrence of either of those conditions, the friction within the journal box increases to cause what is commonly termed a hot box. it has heretofore been proposed to overcome the foregoing deficiencies in the use of cotton waste and to also improve lubrication of the journal by use of a pre-formed pad which may be installed in the journal box as a unit and removed therefrom as a unit for reconditioning. The configuration and size of such pads have usually been such that they would rest upon the floor of the oil cellar with the upper surface of the pad engaging the lower surface of the journal.

The present invention relates to journal pads in which a fabric jacket forms a pair of elongated, parallel pockets in which reheat inserts are placed to substantially fill the pockets. The fabric of the jacket is folded or pleated between the pockets. These pleats cooperate with the adjacent walls of the pockets to provide in the center of the pad a plurality of thicknesses of jacket fabric which extend from the floor of the oil cellar to the lower surface of the journal. This plurality of thicknesses of fabric provides a highly effective wicking path for transferring oil from the oil cellar to the journal. The fabric of the jacket is preferably a loop pile fabric which has substantial thickness with effective oil absorption and wicking action.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a lubricating pad for a journal box which has a highly effective oil wick extending through the center of the pad to establish a direct wicking path which follows the shortest distance between the cellar of the journal box and the lower surface of the journal.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lubricating pad for a journal box which has a center wicking path composed of a plurality of thicknesses of fabric positioned between resilient inserts.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a lubricating pad for a journal box which will effectively convey oil to the journal as long as any oil remains in the cellar of the journal box.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lubricating pad for a journal box which has a center wicking path for lubricant and which path is capable of absorbing and storing a large amount of oil which is available for lubrication of the journal for a prolonged period after the supply of oil in the oil cellar has become exhausted.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lubri caring pad for a journal box which is highly resilient to assure its continuous contact with the journal but which 3,d25,ll7 Patented Mar. 13, 1962 at the same time is suihciently stable to eliminate the probability of the pad shifting its position within the journal box under adverse conditions of use. The resiliency of the pad enables it to be used in any of the various types of journal boxes presently in use on cars in interchange service.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully understood by reference to the following description which refers to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one form of lubricating pad embodying the features of the invention, portions of the pile loops being omitted for clarity;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional View taken in the direction of the arrows along the line Z-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view of the center portion of a modified form of journal pad, the pile loops on the jacket fabric being deleted for clarity of illustration;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view of a journal box showing the lubricating pad of FIGURES l and 2 installed therein; and

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 but illustrating the pad of FlGURE 3 installed in. the journal box.

One of the pads is designated generally by the reference numeral 6. The pad comprises a fabric jacket which is preferably formed of two pieces of woven pile fabric. Although the nature of the fabric is not being specifically claimed in the present application it may be pointed out that the fabric is preferably of a special weave which effectively locks the pile loops in the fabric to eliminate the probability of those loops becoming elongated and wrapping around the journal or becoming lodged between the journal and the bearing. This fabric is a leno woven fabric in which two loop pile ends operate together through one leno heddle. The pile loops have a height of approximately one inch and there are twelve picks between each row of loops.

One piece of the jacxet fabric is designated by the reference numeral 7. One end of the piece of fabric 7 is stitched to an intermediate portion of the fabric at 8 to form an elongated pocket 9. A small buffer loop It? is formed along the outer edge of pocket 9 by stitching the fabric at 11. The opposite end of the piece of fabric 7 is stitched to the fabric at 12 to form an upwardly extending pleat or hem 13. The other piece of jacket fabric is designated by the reference numeral 14-. One end of the piece of fabric 14 is stitched to itself at 15 to form an elongated pocket 16. A buffer loop 17 is formed along the outer edge of the pocket 16 by stitching the fabric at 18. The opposite end of the piece of fabric 14: is stitched to the piece 14 at 19 to form a downwardly extending pleat or hem 20. The pieces of jacket fabric 7 and 14 are securely stitched together at 21 to position the pockets 9 and 16 in parallel relationship. The ends of a pull tape 22 may be secured to the jacket by the line of stitching 21. The pieces of fabric 7 and 14 have pile loops 23 on their outer surfaces.

A resilient insert 24 of foam neoprene or other easily compressible but highly resilient material is positioned within the pocket 9 and substantially fills the same. The resilient insert 24 is in the form of an isosceles trapezoid in cross-section. The longer parallel side 25 of resilient insert 24 is positioned to face the center of the pad. A similar resilient insert 26 is positioned within the pocket 16 and substantially fills the same. The resilient insert 25 has its longer parallel side 27 facing the center of the pad. The resilient inserts 24 and 26 are secured within their respective pockets by stitching the ends of the pockets together as indicated by the lines of stitching 28 and 29 in FIGURE 1. It will be understood that the opposite ends of the pockets are similarly stitched.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that the pleats 13 and 20 cooperate with the adjacent walls of pockets 9 and 16 to provide four thicknesses of loop pile fabric at the center of the pad. The pile loops 23 of these four thicknesses of fabric intermingle when the pad is installed in a journal box 30, as illustrated in FIGURE 4. During such installation, the resilient inserts 24 and 26 are deformed to somewhat the condition shown in FIG- URE 4, but their inwardly facing sides 25 and 27 remain substantially parallel. The upwardly and downwardly extending pleats 13 and 20 occupy positions generally parallel to the walls 25 and 27 of the resilient inserts. The buffer loops 10 and i7 engage flanges 31 and 32 or other suitable stop means within the journal box 30. The buffer loops 10 and 17 add stability to the outer edges of the pad and assure that the pad will be retained below the flanges 31 and 32 in the position illustrated in FIGURE 4.

Again referring to FIGURE 4, it will be seen that a relatively wide wicking path composed of the four thicknesses of loop pile fabric extends the full length of the pad and also extends from the floor of the oil cellar in the journal box 30 to the lower surface of the journal 33. The pile loops 23 are intermingled in this wicking path and a highly effective wicking action is obtained. The wicking path extends directly from the floor of the oil cellar in the journal box 30 to the journal 33 along the shortest distance between those members. So long as any oil remains in the oil cellar it will be effectively Wicked to the journal 33 to lubricate the same. This center wicking path in the pad is also capable of absorbing a large amount of oil which is available to lubricate the journal 33 even after the supply of oil has been exhausted from the oil cellar.

The form of the pad illustrated in FIGURES 3 and is identical to that described above except for the fact that elongated bars 34 and 35 of resilient material such as foam neoprene are inserted within the pleats or hems i3 and 20 respectively. The bars 34 and 35 function to assure that the pleats 13 and 20 do not become folded back upon themselves but remain extended as' illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 5. In other words, the bars 34 and 35 assure that one end of the wicking path remains in engagement with the floor of the oil cellar and the other end of the wicking path remains in engagement with the journal 33. The same reference numerals used above are used to designate corresponding elements of the journal pads illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 5.

It will be seen that the pad is completely symmetrical. The pad can be easily inserted in the journal box without the use of special tools. The pull tape 22 facilitates removal of the pad from the journal box for reconditioning. The pad is reversible in that either the top or bottom surface, as viewed in FIGURE 2 or 3, can be placed in engagement with the journal 33.

While the majority of the oil supplied to the journal 33 passes through the center wicking path described above, it will be understood that oil will also proceed by capillary action through the jacket fabric around the outer edges of the resilient inserts 24 and 26 and to the journal 33.

It will be found advantageous in the manufacture of the pad to make the lines of stitching 8, 11 and 12 in the piece of fabric 7 and to make the lines of stitching 15, 13 and 19 in the piece of fabric 14 before the two pieces of fabric are stitched together along the line 21. It will also be found advantageous when using the bars 34 and 35 to insert those bars in the pleats 13 and 20 while forming those pleats by the lines of stitching 12 and 19.

It is preferable that the upper end of the pleat 13 extend slightly above other portions of the pad and that the lower end of pleat 20 extend slightly below other portions of the pad when the pads are in their relaxed state, as illustrated in FIGURES l, 2 and 3.

There has been illustrated and described what we now consider to be the preferred embodiments of our invention. It will be apparent that various alterations and modifications may be made without departing from the broader scope of the invention which is defined by the following claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A lubricating pad for a journal box comprising a fabric jacket forming a pair of horizontally elongated, parallel pockets attached together on a line extending along their adjacent sides, a first tubular pleat extending upwardly from said line of attachment between said pockets, at second tubular pleat extending downwardly from said line of attachment between said pockets, said pleats defining passageways extending the length of said pad with each of said passageways being of substantially less transverse cross-sectional area than the transverse cross-sectional area of each of said pockets, said fabric jacket having pile loops on the outer surfaces of said pockets and on the outer surfaces of said tubular pleats, and a resilient insert in each pocket substantially filling the same, said inserts having opposing surfaces generally parallel to each other to position the adjacent pile loop surfaces of said pockets against the pile loop surfaces of said pleats to thereby form a vertical central lubricant wick through the pad composed of four layers of pile loop fabric.

2. A lubricating pad for a journal box comprising a fabric jacket forming a pair of horizontally elongated, parallel pockets attached together on a line extending along their adjacent sides, a first tubular pleat extending upwardly from said line of attachment between said pockets, a second tubular pleat extending downwardly from said line of attachment between said pockets, said pleats defining passageways extending the length of said pad with each of said passageways being of substantially less transverse cross-sectional area than the transverse cross-sectional area of each of said pockets, said fabric jacket having pile loops on the outer surfaces of said pockets and on the outer surfaces of said tubular pleats, a resilient insert in each pocket substantially filling the same, said inserts having opposing surfaces generally parallel to each other to position the adjacent pile loop surfaces of said pockets against the pile loop surfaces of said pleats to thereby form a vertical central lubricant wick through the pad composed of four layers of pile loop fabric, a first elongated bar of resilient material in said passageway defined by said first pleat at the upper surface of said pad, and a second elongated bar of resilient material in said passageway defined by said second pleat at the lower surface of said pad.

3. A lubricating pad for a journal box comprising a fabric jacket forming a pair of horizontally elongated, parallel pockets attached together on a line extending along their adjacent sides, a first tubular pleat extending upwardly from said line of attachment between said pockets, a second tubular pleat extending downwardly from said line of attachment between said pockets, said pleats defining passageways extending the length of said pad with each of said passageways being of substantially less transverse cross-sectional area than the transverse cross-sectional area of each of said pockets, said fabric jacket having pile loops on the outer surfaces of said pockets and on the outer surfaces of said tubular pleats, and a resilient insert in each pocket substantially filling the same, said inserts having opposing surfaces generaliy parallel to each other to position the adjacent pile loop surfaces of said pockets against the pile loop surfaces of said pleats to thereby form a vertical central lubricant wick through the pad composed of four layers of pile loop fabric, the fabric of said pockets being stitched along their sides remote from said pleats to add stability to the outer edges of said pad.

4. A lubricating pad for a journal box comprising a fabric jacket forming a pair of horizontally elongated, parallel pockets attached together on a line extending along their adjacent sides, a first tubular pleat extending upwardly from said line of attachment between said pockets, a second tubular pleat extending downwardly from said line of attachment between said pockets, said pleats defining passageways extending the length of said pad with each of said passageways being of substantially less transverse cross-sectional area than the transverse cross-sectional area of each of said pockets, said fabric jacket having pile loops on the outer surfaces of said pockets and on the outer surfaces of said tubular pleats, and a resilient insert in each pocket substantially filling the same, each of said inserts having generally the shape of an isosceles trapezoid in cross-section with the longer parallel side thereof facing said pleats to position the adjacent pile loop surfaces of said pockets against the pile loop surfaces of said pleats to thereby form a vertical central lubricant wick through the pad composed of four layers of pile loop fabric.

5. A lubricating pad for a journal box comprising a fabric jacket forming a pair of horizontally elongated,

parallel pockets connected together and tubular means extending between said pockets, said tubular means ex tending the length of said pockets and being of substantially less transverse cross-sectional area than the transverse cross-sectional area of each of said pockets, said fabric jacket having pile loops on the adjacent surfaces of said pockets and on the outer surface of said tubular means, and a resilient insert in each pocket substantially filling the same, said inserts having opposing surfaces facing each other to position the adjacent pile loop surfaces of said pockets against the pile loop surfaces of said tubular means to thereby form a vertical central lubricant wick composed of four thicknesses of pile loop fabric extending from the bottoms to the tops of said pockets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Rockwell Sept. 24, 1957 

